Need Advice on a Firearm Purchase (Only 2nd Vanity ever)

10/04/02 | me, myself and I

[seeker41]

Help me decide witch one of these firearms to purchase as I am confusing myself. Currently I own a SW 357 revolver and that's fine for home. I am female with small wrists and average sized hands, kinda long fingers and would value FReeper advice if you have experience with either of these weapons. Should I look at Glocks as well? I don't care for 9mms such as Ruger etc. Thanks in advance.

Here is my first choice
HK USP 45

Second Choice

[wardaddy]

Up a bit late weren't ya?

[Squantos]

Yeah .......had a bit of OT at the salt mine so I was winding down the grey matter for my nap......

And I have a hard time passin up a gun thread :o)

I learn a lot about the mindset of new and old pistoleers on these kind of posts. Hope all is well with you and the family !

Stay Safe, Armed and CYA WD !!

[PatrioticAmerican]

Nice vanity. We love these "what gun..." threads. It makes this site a bit more interesting at times.

[PatrioticAmerican]

P.S. Good choice. My fav is the Beretta Vertec in 40 cal, but your choice in the HK is an excellent one as well.

[wardaddy]

All fine here. We are on babywatch for the next 4 weeks (he'd better get here before black powder starts....lol)

Just running my warehouse today....typical Saturday.

Gun threads are great aren't they?

[Shooter 2.5]

On the "melted" model I held, the bells and whistles still had the edges and I noticed that the price was more than the regular model.
Like you said, to each their own.
My .45's go into a Galco Royal Guard IWB holster.

[PoorMuttly]

A very, very, VERY important thing which has gone unmentioned, is that the Double Action autos have safeties that work BACKWARD...and one needs to THINK about it a lot...which won't easily happen under stress. When they first became popular, pros I knew carried their D.A.s hammer down on a live round...safety OFF. Why bother...when the 1911 still works. Jeff Cooper said a D.A. autopistol is a solution for a problem that doesn't exist. If you're arming LE personnel, then perhaps there's a case for choosing it. For one's self...no. Just don't pull it without shooting it. Don't wrestle people with a pistol in your hand. Don't manipulate it...like dealing with hammer-drop "safeties" around other people, in a crowded street. Keep it simple...and don't wake it up until you want it to sing. It's YOUR gun...not the municipality's. You are not there to straighten out the neighborhood...just to suddenly protect yourself. If need be...you can always go out and win a World War with it...in any climate....if you have the ammunition.

I suspect that the "down to up" safety is the real reason people like Glocks. If they were steel, maybe even I would carry one. Maybe.

Just like most people intuitively know how to work a D.A. revolver...they automatically snap the safety DOWN when drawing (bringing into battery) a Single Action Browning design. If my Dad hadn't carried a Walther PPK in the OSS...I would have worried more about him than I did. When we both went to the S.A. Browning High Power 9mm (Belgian), we were both relieved. We needed penetration, and lots of rounds...and it was our very best possible choice. It points like a Luger, but feeds everything, "all" the time.

Working the 1911 seems to be more genetic than anything. Click-Boom. That's it. I also wish my H.P.'s had a Grip Safety...which I'm very fond of...although John Browning didn't want ANY safety on them. The military made him do it.

For all the respect and use I have for revolvers...carrying a .38+P square-butt Chief w/ Winchester 158gr. Hollow Point Lead most of the time, when not working (having promised The Colonel before his passing that I would no longer carry a gun for money)...the M1911A1 seems to exist inside one's body...like an internal organ...waiting to be told to work...as designed...simply. Also....45ACP is big and fat and of slow, low pressure...so the tolerances necessary for them to work are wide...and rather "reliable." But remember...a revolver's "six for sure" is hard to beat, for all its drawbacks.

[seeker41]

Thanks, I was told to expect you on this thread also, very good advice from you. Currently digesting this thread today and glad you informed me of compacts. Buying the snubby .357 was done on a whim and yes I let the salesman talk me into it being the feminine little thing I am.LOL
Knew it was not the right pistola for me, so it stays by the bed. I want a gun with some range and challenge, but not so hard to operate that mistakes happen.

[seeker41]

Are you in the Houston area? A number of the Houston FR Chapter go to the range on occasion. I know there are Sigs and Glocks in the mix. You could join us and try them out.

Yep, that sounds like a fine idea.

[seeker41]

sigh...so much to learn so little time. Thanks again for the nice discussion. I'm researching today, probably will go to a range and let some FR HAT members instruct me on the various choices mentioned on this thread. I want to find that "perfect" pistola for me before purchasing.

[PoorMuttly]

The .357 Magnum revolver is a famous manstopper...easy to use half-asleep in the dark...and Gen. Patton carried a 3 1/2"...and called it his "killin'" gun. He would know. The Miami massacre started LE interest in automatics, and the .357 in particular. You are not undergunned. There's not much a good .357 can't do...and ammo selection, even in the same cylinder...is a big plus. The Win. 158gr. SWC-HP, in .38 & .357, is the famous and proven Illinois State Police round...and is the very best choice. .38s by nature need velocity to effectively perform...usually from barrel length, to build up velocity while burning powder. Even with increased muzzle flash, tests have proven there IS an advantage (impact) to short-barreled .357s over .38s. Just be careful to not shoot lots of lead .38s, and suddenly expect .357s will still fit in. Fire a jacketed .38 every now and then, to keep the chambers from leading up...and shortening! Yuck...in the extreme !

If the 9mm were not fired in a closed breech automatic...it would be a little stinker...not much use. Closed breech pistols impart all their pressure to the bullet...an advantage. That's why you need a magnum revolver load to push a .38 class bullet to effective velocity. Unless large diameter and lower pressure, ie. the .45...autopistols don't like lead. Lead is soft...and doesn't need high velocity to deform, and damage the "target." It's all a trade-off. Even a .357 needs to mushroom (get bigger) to stop lethal threats without exactly hitting vital anatomy. People use JHP 9mms for expansion...but will it penetrate enough before expanding...will a JHP fill up and not expand at all ? That's why the .45ACP, lead or not, still rules. It's big. Also why it's desireable for targets...bigger scoring hole. A road hog.

[Opus OFF]

[seeker41]

Thanks for your input. I really enjoy the educational "firearm" discussions on FR. Lots of technical stuff I was unaware of. My 2nd fav posts are the "Whats your favorite book" threads."

[seeker41]

Hi hosepipe. Haven't seen you since the old Firetalk days when you were just a postin away in the text box. Thanks for commenting.

[PoorMuttly]

Wet telephone books.

Seriously, in my case...the Bible

then Macciavelli's The Prince.

Uh-oh. This thread has turned. Nevermind.

[seeker41]

This is the first I have heard about the MARAROV, thanks for the education.

[seeker41]

LOL... what are the bullets called that have a clear blue cap and have little bead looking things in them? My uncle uses them and appear to not be deadly, will only wound a person.

[RIGHT IN SEATTLE]

I own your first choice. My SPAS-12 is my favorite!

[seeker41]

Why that is a fine looking weapon, quite deadly I'm sure. Do you like your HK and what is the weight like?

[PatrioticAmerican]

Yeah, book threads are also fairy good, especially in the Winter.

These gun threads really do show that a little information can be dangerous. For the most part, not knowing what you know of firearms, simply ask yourself if an idea seems uncomfortable to you. If so, it is probably dangerous.

The only real sound advice is get training (no ate-up jokers, just common sensed NRA folks are best), practice often to keep familiar (monthly, if possible), keep the firearm safe from children, and keep the pointy end away from things you don't want to hit. Frankly, everything else you will learn from your own experiences. All that fancy-dancy stuff never really works well when it's trigger time.

Most of all, enjoy shooting; it is a sport as well.

[PoorMuttly]

Ahhhhh. That's the famous GLASER Safety Slug.

Designed in the 1970s for Sky Marshalls in the .44 Special Charter Arms Bulldog (Son of Sam's choice)...it's a jacket filled with fine Birdshot, capped with teflon. It's supposed to minimize ricochet, and not go through walls too well (I heard it does!). Once spoke to a PD pathologist, who said they got a guy with his shoulder blown off...thought it was from a 12ga....turned out to be a .38 Glaser. There's a silver capped one, with larger shot. They tried to make me use them in my .45 at a gun store...kept getting caught with Ball in the magazine...oops.

A 17 year veteran of the NYPD Stakeout team (.45 man, BTW) told me not to use them..."what if the guy raises his hand, and you blow it off...he still shoots you with the other one." He habitually carried a Chief w/ Silvertips in his trouser pocket. Always carried his 1911 at work....his job being so dangerous they never (except once) questioned it.

He said, of all the people he was forced to kill...only the innocent dog really bothered him. It was doing its job. The people were trying to destroy innocent others, often horribly, as he watched through a 2-way mirror...eyeballs hanging out, all sorts of gore...and "needed killing."

These things instruct a person. I have been very fortunate to know more than I have suffered.

May this kind of stuff come to an end some day. For ALL of us.